The present invention relates to a telephone contact system that enables a telephone representative to prerecord and subsequently replay a set of voice files based on a pre-created script to one or more parties. More particularly the invention relates to a telephone contact system that transparently presents the prerecorded voice script to the selected population and the text of that voice script to the telephone representative. The system can be used with inbound, outbound or blended calling systems.
The telephone contact industry has long been aware of the importance of consistency in making successful telephone contacts. Consistency involves having the individual telephone representative make the same positive statement or impression to the last or current prospective customer he/she contacts as well as he/she did to the first prospective customer contacted. For the purpose of this disclosure, the term xe2x80x9cpartyxe2x80x9d will be used to describe the person the telephone representative calls or who calls the company who the representative represents. Such parties can include, but are not limited to, customers, prospective customers, individuals targeted by demographics who might be responsive to the message sought to be delivered by the representative, or any other person in communications with the TSR. The term xe2x80x9cpartyxe2x80x9d may, if desired, be extended to third parties who are contacted by medium not directly in communications with the TSR. An example of that type of medium would be the World Wide Web or Internet. The tone quality, pitch, energy, and enthusiasm of the telephone representative""s voice has an enormous impact on the effectiveness of the telephone contact. Naturally the consistency, tone, and pitch quality of the telephone representative voice varies from the beginning of his/her work shift to the end of his/her shift and even from day to day. This variation in work performance is normal not only in the telephone contact industry but in all types of industries where humans are involved and the work is repetitious.
Attempts in the past have been made to rectify the variation in the telephone representative""s consistency, tone, and pitch quality of his/her voice by prerecording a particular telephone representative""s voice. This voice would then be played to a party. Other attempts include telephone response systems that have prerecorded voices to be replayed on demand by an operator who is monitoring the telephone communications between the party and the response system. The operator listens to the prospective party""s response to a selected prerecorded voice message and responds with an approved answering phrase that has been determined to be the most effective for the type of response received. This type of telephone contact still relies on the telephone representative to audibly recognize the appropriate time to insert a prerecorded voice phrase in response to a prospective party""s comments.
It would be desirable to have a telephone contact system that would allow a telephone representative to transparently deliver a set of prerecorded voice files to a selected population of parties that was consistent in voice quality, energy, tone, and pitch. Such a telephone contact system would enable the telephone representative to receive particular responses to selected questions from a plurality of senses i.e., audibly or visibly. The telephone representative would no longer totality rely on audible recognition of a party""s response to a particular message.
The telephone contact industry is well aware of the importance of consistency in a telephone service representative""s (TSR) voice and delivery tone, quality, and pitch. They are also keenly aware of how the TSR""s voice quality may degrade over time or during a TSR""s response to a question posed by a party during the conversation. Generally, effective telephone contact must be of high quality and dependable consistency from the first telephone contact to the last telephone contact placed by the TSR.
The present invention provides an interactive communication and maintenance system for telephone contact. The present invention is designed to be a stand-alone system used in concert with computers and public telephone switches that are well known in the telephone contact industry. The present invention may, if desired, be integrated into an existing telephone contact system or host program such as ATOMS(copyright) software program available from Noble Systems Corporation, Atlanta, Ga. The communication system enables the TSR to transparently deliver his/her own prerecorded voice file to a party that is consistent in voice tone, quality, and pitch. The maintenance portion of the present invention enables the TSR to update and improve selected prerecorded voice files to ensure voice quality, energy, tone, and pitch of his/her recordings and obtain management approval.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention commands and controls the interactive communication between the TSR and a party. The present invention is a communication system or program residing on the host system. The host system first establishes a communication link between the communication system and the party. The communication link may, if desired, be dedicated to inbound, outbound, or blended communication links to the party. The host system provides a stimulus to the communication system indicating a communication link is established. The communication system, responsive to the stimulus retrieves a selected voice and text file from the host system""s memory. The communication system operatively presents the text file to the TSR and the voice file to the party. The communication system may, if desired, receive subsequent stimuli derived from the communication between the TSR and the party. The communications system responsive to the subsequent stimuli presents subsequent text files to the TSR and subsequent voice files to the party. The TSR monitors the voice file and any vocal response by the party. The TSR views the transcribed text of the voice file as it is being presented to the party. The TSR an also handle segments live, when needed.
The TSR""s ability to monitor the voice and text file simultaneously enables the TSR to give an intelligent and cohesive response to questions or responses by the party to the voice file. This process of transmitting the voice file to the prospective party and the text file to the TSR is transparent to the party. The party receives the initial voice file and subsequent voice files that are of a desirable and effective voice quality, energy, tone and pitch. This process of transmitting voice files to the party and the text file to the TSR continues until the TSR, or the party terminates the telephone contact.
If the party asks a question or makes a response to the voice file, the TSR requests the communication system to extract an appropriate response from its memory. The communication system extracts from its memory the requested responsive voice and text file and transmits the voice file to the party and the text file to the TSR. If desired, the TSR may interrupt the transmission of the voice file and actually communicate live with the party.
A second embodiment of the present invention is a maintenance system that enables the TSR to record voice files, update existing voice files, and receive critiques of the voice files by the TSR""s manager. The maintenance system provides software tools controlling the speed of the voice file playback, volume, fast forward, and reverse of the voice file. The maintenance file also provides an indexed counter that positionally or numerically notes the voice file as it is being played. The present invention can also edit out any excess silence or noise at the beginning and/or end of a file.
The TSR begins a recording session by communicating to the maintenance system a request for a particular campaign or sales script which may include one or more discrete cells of dialog. The TSR then sends a request to record a particular voice file. The TSR records the voice file using the script cells on the monitor and, using the provided tools, edits the voice file. When the TSR is satisfied with quality of the voice file, he/she may send a signal indicating that the voice file is ready for management review. The manager reviews the voice file and offers suggestions for improvement. The manager may also approve or disapprove the future use of the voice file. The process of the TSR recording a voice file, updating, and submitting the voice file for approval continues until all concerned parties are satisfied with the voice file. Once the voice file has gained the manager""s approval, it is stored in a unique location the host system""s memory for use by the appropriate TSR. This file can be recalled by the TSR when he/she enters her password and accesses the system and then recalls the script.
When taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims, other features and advantages of the present invention become apparent upon reading the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention.